It was a 325-kilogram (717 lb) spacecraft, which was built by the Yuzhnoye Design Bureau, and was used as a radar calibration target for anti-ballistic missile tests.

[1] Kosmos 455 was successfully launched into low Earth orbit on 17 November 1971, with the rocket lifting off at 11:09:48 UTC.

[2] The launch took place from Site 133/1 at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome,[3] and used a Kosmos-2I 63SM carrier rocket.

[5] It was operated in an orbit with a perigee of 266 kilometres (165 mi), an apogee of 468 kilometres (291 mi), 70.9 degrees of inclination, and an orbital period of 91.9 minutes.

[1][6] It remained in orbit until it decayed and re-entered the atmosphere on 9 April, 1972.